For 2011 the time of year when seniors do their annual Medicare shopping is moved up. Previously the enrollment period was from Oct 15th through Dec 31st. The end date is now Dec 7th. Changes become effective Jan 1st. Enrollment provides seniors an annual opportunity to amend their Medicare coverage by choosing one of two basic [...]
Oh the things one sees on TV. Every Sunday morning some loudmouth is screaming at us about the upcoming slate of NFL games. "Call now and I'll give you my lock of the week - absolutely free!" It's inevitably a flip of the coin. If it doesn't hit you never call again. If it hits [...]
The holiday party season is in full swing. Everyone's decked out in their festive sweaters opining about how long it's been since they last saw one another while imbibing on watered-down eggnog. Along comes a new face that gets drawn into the conversation: "Hi. I'm so and so. This is my friend blah blah blah." [...]
In an interview yesterday with ABC's George Stephanopoulos President Obama admitted Americans are "not better off" today than we were four years ago. He added, "I think that what we've seen is that we've been able to make steady progress to stabilize the economy but the unemployment rate is still way too high." When asked if he's [...]
The folks at Morningstar have taken a stab at quantifying and ranking the upfront tax breaks available at the state level for contributions to §529 college savings plans. The results are based on a hypothetical couple earning $100,000 with two children each receiving a $2,500 contribution over the course of a year. As such the couple's total [...]
In a move that should surprise no one President Obama once again put his political career ahead of the best interest of Americans. In a populist move designed to win favor from voters (but raise little in the way of revenue) the President on Monday will propose a tax on people earning more than $1 [...]
On Wednesday the IRS published guidance on the tax treatment of employer-provided mobile phones. Employer-provided cell phones are to be considered an excludible fringe benefit if provided primarily for non-compensatory business reasons.
"You can't bullshit a bullshitter." A little low brow? Maybe. Wisdom in those words? Absolutely. This sage advice was given to us a long time ago from someone who created brilliance from simplicity - gold from straw if you will. Nope, it's not a Yogi-ism. Close, though, and we like it. It's simple and effective. The [...]
Prior to adjourning for its August recess Congress approved a bill raising the debt ceiling and potentially eliminating $1,000,000,000+ from the budget over the next 10 years. That's the good news. The bad news is a measure was proposed shortly thereafter to curtail the so-called ‘super committee' entrusted to tackle deficit-reduction from considering cuts to Medicare and [...]
Tom Friedman has teamed with Michael Mandelbaum on a provocative new book. They argue America is failing at what it's always done best: educating its citizens to or above the current level of technology attracting (and retaining) the best and brightest immigrants investing in top notch infrastructure maintaining an atmosphere encouraging capital formation and investment They hypothesize that the [...]